Small Scale Military Headquarters

i've decided to take the plunge and start collecting 1:32 scale, for many reasons, mostly because i wanted vehicles, aircraft galore and didn't want the storage headache i already have with 1:18, plus i'd like to (someday) have a really large army.

So, after inspecting some of the 21c stuff i decided to go for it.
I think that their molds are good but I think that their paintjobs could be better, FOV seems like the go for detail but from online vendors it seems kind of expensive. (i buy almost all online due to my geographical location)

A friend suggested I learn to paint up my models and learn weathering techniques. I felt inspired after seeing some of MIGMA's paintjobs on his 1:18 Tiger.
Since i'm brand new to this scale I was hoping for some advice on learning to paint, painting tips and techniques, books, how to get started.
Also, what 1:32 brands to collect, what are must have items and so on and so forth. I have an idea of the stuff i'd like to work on progressively, street scenes ETO thearte mostly, but where to start.

to be honest its not as easy as it sounds.

I do occasionally attempt to paint vehicles and figures and with a lot of practice my stuff now comes out at a standard that is frankly ...

still a bit crap.

You do need to try it though some people have a real talent for this sort of thing sadly I am not one of them

What has worked for me is finding skilled people to paint for me (I have mostly used ebay but not always) and I have a collection that now screams quality.

I have figures from the likes of conte that I have paid less than £3 a figure that would stand againts the best of King and countrys.

having said that I believe that even some of my crap work is better than some of the "schemes" fov and 21st have put out.

Again ill say try it.

An overall olive drab with a dry brush gives a surprisingly good effect on allied armour , try this first and if dry brushing means nothing to you simply google it for loads of advice,

Bird, I too would like to learn to customize better. My skill level now is simply blackwash the models to bring out the detail. For that reason alone I much prefer the FOV series. They have gotten terribly expensive though. I just about crapped when I saw Pershings going on e-bay for over $90.

My suggestion would be to buy from people on the forum who are downsizing with loose models. You can sometimes find loose lots on e-bay also. I display all of mine and don't save the boxes. I am not planning on getting rich from them.

I recently picked up a large lot of mixed FOV/21C tanks that came out to about $10 each. That is a great way to go.

Welcome to the smaller side of things!

olifant wrote:I just about crapped when I saw Pershings going on e-bay for over $90.

Sold my Pershing for $120 on Ebay a month or two ago. If people want to pay the price I'm more than happy to take their money.

to learn about painting your best bet is probaly the internet. A good site is the forum armorama.com. The people there are really nice and there is alotta beginners as well.

Rowsdower wrote:

olifant wrote:I just about crapped when I saw Pershings going on e-bay for over $90.

Sold my Pershing for $120 on Ebay a month or two ago. If people want to pay the price I'm more than happy to take their money.

Rowsdower wrote:

olifant wrote:I just about crapped when I saw Pershings going on e-bay for over $90.

Sold my Pershing for $120 on Ebay a month or two ago. If people want to pay the price I'm more than happy to take their money.

Must have hit the submit button twice, oops!!

Pick a couple 21st pieces and paint em, repaint em and then repaint em. Practice!

Many of mine look like crap as well, but its fun. Too me I am sure I am a minority but many of the FOV pieces are too weathered too beat up. Some of the tanks look like they would be battlefield losses...

Besides these are all toys, ( again me in the minority) If i were looking for detail galore or perfect paint etc I would have gone 1:35 and built em.

Besides all of the above I have seen way too many armored vehicels in real life that were probably painted by their blind folded crews! While everyone clamores for the perfect ambush scheme reality lies some where with a can of dunkelgreen and a hand held brush.

1:32 will take space quickly as well. It sneaks up on you!

Here is another site that might help... http://www.missing-lynx.com/articles/ge ... winter.htm